games that never amount
by cyclothimic
Summary: or Kara and Lexa are soccer players, and Lena and Clarke are suckers for them.


**i've been reading a lot of clexa and supercorp fics lately, and i really think lena and lexa can end up being best friends. and i wanted to write something, that's why i'm posting this mess of a fic. a lot of fluff and not a lot of plot and holy shit i might write more?**

 **now, read, ponder, and enjoy!**

* * *

 _I don't know you,_

 _But I want you,_

 _All the more for that._

 _-Falling Slowly, Cristin Milioti and Steve Kazee_

* * *

"What are you doing here?"

Everyone knew Clarke Griffin wasn't a morning person, which was surprising because she was on the first aid team, and first aid was often needed in the morning for training sessions of all the sports teams. She wasn't exactly subtle with her displease whenever she was scheduled to be on site during morning training sessions.

Clarke only looked at Lena with bleary eyes, holding a cup of steaming coffee as if it was a lifeline, wrapped in layers of jacket and coat and scarf and beanie. "Woods is a bitch," she grumbled and then proceeded to sip her coffee. Lena smirked and sat down next to the girl.

It also wasn't a secret that Clarke had a soft spot for Lexa. The two of them were already crowned 'Couple of the Year' two times throughout the two years they had been here in National City University – a flimsy attempt of the student council to recreate a university version of the yearbook.

They claimed they were not dating, which Lena believed. If they were dating, Clarke wouldn't be out here grumbling and trying to hide that glint of pride in her eyes. If they were dating, Lexa wouldn't be stumbling over her words every time Clarke tried – and failed – to flirt with her. If they were dating, Lena would probably have to move.

But they might as well be. Whenever there was a soccer training session for the girls' team, Clarke would be the first to sign up for the first aid group, even though she absolutely hated mornings. If there was a party, high chances would be that Lexa and Clarke show up together, and then leave early. Whenever there was a tournament, Clarke would be cheering the girls on while also grumbling if Lexa hurt herself.

So, of course Clarke would be here at five in the morning. Lexa had an inflamed knee from a game last month, and Clarke hadn't stopped fussing over her ever since. And despite the fact that she wasn't healed, Lexa had insisted on getting back on her feet for a game in two weeks, and Clarke would never let Lexa out of her sight so that she would have a chance to chastise Lexa again when she inevitably cry in pain for overexertion.

"What are _you_ doing here?"

Lena snorted, darting her gaze over to the two girls kicking the ball on the field. "Woods is a bitch," she echoed.

Clarke was her roommate, but Lexa was her best friend. The two of them had formed an unlikely bond after a week-long rivalry over a table in the library. They were both isolated beings, preferring to be alone than having to cope with the complete cluelessness of the people around them. No one was more surprised than them when they ended up becoming best friends, even when Lexa was a political science and law double major, and Lena already had a PhD for Manufacturing and Management under her belt and was now working for one in Energy, Fluid Mechanics and Turbomachinery.

That night when Lexa had injured herself, Lena was only second to Clarke to reach Lexa on the field. If Lexa intended to worsen her injury and lessen her chances of completing in the game in two weeks, Lena wanted to join Clarke in scolding her.

Clarke hummed in understanding, but then she went and said, "You sure it's not because Danvers is here?"

The raven haired girl glared at the first aid. "How dare you," she said without much animosity.

"Please," Clarke scoffed. "She's your best friend, but I'm still your roommate."

Her gaze traveled back to the field, where Kara was laughing and Lexa had a reluctant smile on her face. "I didn't even know she'd be here."

"Really?"

Lena narrowed her eyes. "You sound surprised."

Clarke stared at her and then to the field, focusing in on Lexa. And then she chuckled, as if she just realized something. "Oh, Lexa, you crafty fox," she mumbled under her breath.

"What?"

Clarke shrugged. "I knew she'd be here," she just said.

Kara Danvers was not a friend, Lena had always insisted whenever Lexa and Clarke teased her about it. Kara was a girl that Lexa was on the same soccer team with – renowned as the Super Commanders due to their camaraderie on the field – hence Lena had to naturally make acquaintance with her. She could count the number of proper conversations they had with one hand, most of them revolving around Lexa. On a usual day, they were only people who said hello and goodbye if they ran into each other.

Apart from that, Lena also had a raging crush on her. It wasn't exactly her fault that Kara was also incredibly _hot_ , besides being naively kind and overtly friendly. Lena always had a thing for blonde soccer players with an inhuman appetite.

Lena was genuinely here because she wanted to keep an eye on Lexa. The fact that Kara was also here was just a bonus.

"What are you getting at?"

"Your best friend's a bitch who's also trying – and failing – to play cupid," Clarke stated, rolling her eyes– fondly. "I'm surprised she has it in her."

All the while, Lena was just confused. "What?"

"Oh my god," the blonde groaned. "You know, for someone who's definitely going to get a second PhD, you're certainly a dumb one."

"I resent that."

"Lexa is trying to play cupid with you _and_ Kara," Clarke said slowly, pronouncing each syllable carefully like she was speaking to a child. "She got you here without telling you that Kara would be here, so you would be surprised and then go on to drool over Kara's abs, and then maybe getting you to ask Kara out."

Lena cocked a brow, and then looked at Lexa, who had now just noticed they were here and waved over to them. Kara followed her gaze, and her grin only broadened as she waved at them as well, making eye contact with Lena. The other soccer player then proceeded to smirk and wink at Lena before continuing the two-person dribble with the soccer ball.

Lena clenched her jaw. "I'm gonna kill her," she muttered.

"Please don't. Otherwise, I'll have no one to smack whenever there's a session or game," Clarke pleaded.

The engineering student rolled her eyes. "As if you will be at a session or game if Lexa's not involved," she called her out.

Clarke mock gasped. "I will have you know that I am a responsible and dutiful first aider who is not as shallow as to only be present when there's a hot girl playing."

Lena snorted. "You only _became_ a first aider because you found out there's a chance you can get your hands on my best friend and your mother's a doctor."

"You take that back."

"No."

A huff escaped her roommate, followed by a loud slurping noise. "When do you think she'll take the hint?"

Lena snorted with a playful grin. "Never."

Clarke heaved a groan. "For two people who are so smart, you're just so fucking dumb," she grumbled.

Lena narrowed her eyes. "Next time you need someone to proofread your essays, don't come looking for me."

"I take that back. You are smart and benevolent and the best person ever."

"Suck-up."

"The one and only."

A bark of laughter stopped their bickering. Lexa was doing a handstand, her shirt dropping to her midriff and showing her abs, and Kara was just laughing at her. Lena didn't even want to know how they got to that point, but she could practically hear Clarke simultaneously having a panic attack and drooling next to her; she, on the other hand, was just wondering if she could record Kara's laughter and set it as her ringtone.

"I am going to die," Clarke murmured.

Lena licked her lips. "By her abs or recklessness?"

" _Both_."

Lena snorted. "How long do you give her until she eventually sprains an ankle or something?"

Clarke smacked her on her arm, went quiet for a moment, and then snorted as well. "In like fifteen minutes."

"You're gonna be such an awful girlfriend," Lena remarked, slightly worried for her best friend.

"She's the one risking her own wellbeing and I'm the awful girlfriend?" The raven haired girl turned slightly towards her roommate, cocking her brow. "Not that I _am_ her girlfriend or anything."

"She's waiting for you, you know," Lena offered after a long while of watching. Clarke shifted next to her. "She's nervous. She's half in love. She's ready to drop anything if you need help. And she's nervous."

Lena still remembered that night when she and Lexa got drunk on the tequila that she snuck from home during spring break. Lexa wasn't always the most revealing person; she kept things close to her chest and the only way to actually get her to say things was by pouring alcohol into her nervous system. Those weren't the only things that Lexa had told her that night, but for now, Clarke only needed to know so much. Lexa would tell her when she was ready.

"She grew up in the system, and she's never been sure of anything except for her future and Anya. She can't be sure about you. Hell, she can't even be sure about _me_ , and we compete in the tragic childhood category. You can't blame her for not taking the hints, because she's still figuring out if you're actually hinting or just being friendly. She wants you, but she's not sure if you want her back or just being friendly. She loves it when you bring her lunch and she could kiss you for it, but she's not sure if you want to kiss her back or just being –"

"Friendly," Clarke finished for her. Unlike before, she didn't sound annoyed and pissed off – she sounded as if she just came to realization of something, and she was sad and happy at the same time.

Lena could easily guess why. She nodded with an agreeing hum. "So instead of dropping hints and waiting for her to make the first move, I would strongly advise you to make the first move yourself."

"Goddammit, Lexa," Clarke went back to grumbling.

Lena laughed. "I know."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Are you waiting for her?" With that, Clarke made a deliberate side eye at Kara and then looked back to Lena. "Because while you've been talking to Lexa, I've been talking to Danvers."

Lena blinked. "I didn't even know you're friends."

Clarke chuckled. "We're not close, but I think she's been looking for me in the library asking me what you like and don't like for like a week already."

"I – _What_?"

"Just prepare yourself. I think she's gonna ask you out later."

"We're not even friends!"

"That's because you and she want to be more than friends."

Well, yeah, she did. She wanted to be more than friends with Kara. She wanted to lay her lips on Kara's and finally stopped wondering what her lips tasted like. She wanted to touch Kara's biceps and triceps and abs and everything and see for herself that they were real. She wanted to look into Kara's eyes from close distance and see if the blue behind those glasses was of which shade of blue. She wanted to take off those glasses and maybe appreciate those eyes with the bareness of them all.

She didn't even really know Kara, but she knew Kara loved pot stickers from that one time they went for a celebratory dinner with the rest of Kara's friends and Clarke's friends at the Chinese place five blocks from campus. She knew Kara loved NSYNC because Lena caught a ride with Kara that night and she was blasting _Bye Bye Bye_ at the expense of getting teased by Lexa. She knew Kara had insurmountable optimism because one time they ran into each other on the quad and Lena was mourning over the last quiz she had in a class but Kara just told her that everything would be fine and even if she didn't do well this time there was always next time. She knew Kara had crazy stamina because Lena couldn't keep her eyes off the blonde during the first game she attended and by the end of that game Kara barely sweated through her jersey.

So she didn't really know Kara, but she knew a hell of a lot about Kara. And all those things only served to strengthen Lena's amusement and curiosity about the girl, which had somehow evolved into a crush over time.

But that was what it was. A _crush_. An _unrequited_ crush. Until now.

"Clarke!"

"It's too early for all these yelling."

"You can't just tell me that Kara might ask me out and then leave it at that. I raised you to be better," she snapped.

"That's exactly how you raised me, you mysterious my-last-name-is-Luthor-let's-just-leave-it-at-that little bitch."

"Which is why you should learn to be better!"

Clarke grimaced at her. "I can never win with you, can I?"

"You've been my roommate for two years and you've only learned this now?" Lena deadpanned. "Oh my god, just explain yourself!"

"What –"

Pained yell cut across the field, cutting Clarke off as she frantically looked towards the field and then leaped up to her feet to run over. Lena saw Lexa lying on the ground, cradling her forearm, while Kara was kneeling over her, face stricken with panic, and joined Clarke in running. She knelt by Kara as Clarke settled on the other side of Lexa, taking control of the situation as she checked over Lexa's elbow. There was a fine bruise forming already.

"I don't know whether I should laugh at you for hurting your elbow and not your knee, or be grateful that it's your elbow and not your knee," Kara said once she realized it wasn't that big of a deal.

"Laugh."

"Grateful."

Clarke and Lexa said at the same time.

Lexa shot Clarke a look. "Don't be mean."

"You hurt your elbow. Stop being a dramatic baby," Clarke scolded, sitting back on her haunches. "How did this even happen?" she asked Kara.

Kara snorted and laughed. "She ran into the goalpost."

"You – you know what, that's it. You're done," Clarke said, standing up and pulling Lexa to her feet.

"What? No, I'm –"

"I'm taking you to breakfast and then you're gonna take a nap. You're not running into any more goalposts lest you actually hurt your knee this time. Then you'll _actually_ be banned from the next game," Clarke ordered.

Lexa scoffed, but at least she was patting off her shorts and listening to Clarke. But really, she never not listened to Clarke. "You can't ban me."

"I can and I will. Now, come on." Clarke grabbed Lexa's elbow and dragged her across the field with her. Lena watched a rare smile graced Lexa's lips as she let Clarke drag her away.

The sun was already rising, casting an orange glow across the field, and Lena took out her phone to take a photo of the scene before her: Clarke dragging a willing Lexa to wherever they were heading, orange and peaceful. When she took one that satisfied, she released a pleased hum, pocketing the device in her jacket.

"They totally forgot about us, didn't they?"

She jerked, and then remembered that Kara was still here. Lena got over her shock and laughed. "You can't honestly tell me you're surprised."

Kara huffed and stood up to her feet, offering Lena a hand. "I just can't believe them. They're getting pancakes! I love pancakes! They could have asked us to join too!"

Her hand was calloused, but in a nice way. Lena told herself that the mild shock she got when she took the hand was because of the friction, and not of anything else. And she kind of didn't want to let go. "How did you know they're getting pancakes?"

"Please. Lexa loves pancakes. And what Lexa loves Lexa gets." Kara began to absentmindedly stroke the back of Lena's hand with her thumb, and Lena was here, being touched and realizing that she was actually _real_. Damn, Clarke wasn't joking when she told her that she turned into a speechless and gooey mess whenever Kara was in vicinity. "Do you wanna get breakfast with me, though?"

Lena blinked, and then she frowned. "Is this a date?" She closed her eyes, resisting from smacking herself for not being able to shut her trap.

Kara's eyes widened. "What – Um – I –"

"Clarke might have mentioned that you've been asking her things that potentially mean you want to ask me out," Lena assisted, watching Kara closely.

She didn't think it was physically possible, but Kara's eyes widened further in a motion of panic and disbelief. She reached up with her free hand, as if to adjust her glasses, only to remember that she wasn't wearing them so she just awkwardly dropped her hand back to her side. "I'm gonna kill her," Kara finally gritted between her teeth, looking away and muttering something else under her breath that Lena couldn't hear.

Lena still hadn't gotten her reassurance, and she was starting to think of killing Clarke in her sleep just for getting her hopes up.

"Do you want it to be?" Kara finally asked, tearing Lena from her homicidal thoughts. When Lena looked at her without saying anything – she couldn't, really – Kara only shrugged. "I mean, she's not wrong. But it's totally fine if you don't want it to be. We can just go grab breakfast and that's it."

"Yes," Lena breathed.

The blonde's eyes lit up into a lighter shade of blue. "Yeah?"

Lena laughed. Okay, so maybe she should pick up a McFlurry for Clarke later. "Yeah," she affirmed with a nod.

"Cool." Kara looked down at their clasped hands and then back up at Lena sheepishly as she tugged her lower lip into a cheeky smile. "You wanna go to McDonald's? Lexa hates McDonald's pancakes."

The raven haired girl stared at Kara in slight disbelief. She wanted to be alone with her. Lena had never had anyone who actually wanted to be alone with her except for Lexa, Clarke, and her ex-boyfriend from high school who ended up cheating on her. So she nodded again. Honestly, she was a girl with few words, but this was bordering on ridiculousness – she really couldn't care less.

She was going on a breakfast date with the soccer player she had been crushing on since she attended the first NCU female soccer game. There really wasn't many words for that.

* * *

 **i'm sorry about the overloading dialogue, seems to be the only thing i'm good at. anyway, what do you think? do you think i should write more for four of them? maybe in the same universe? maybe an entirely separate fic? maybe? just let me know in the comments!**


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